Indicator 5.2.1 Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age

Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls

Target 5.2: Eliminate all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation

Indicator 5.2.1: Proportion of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 years and older subjected to physical, sexual or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months, by form of violence and by age

2024

5.2.2, 5.6.1, 11.7.2, 16.1.3, 16.2.3

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

Senior Manager, Population Statistics

Population and Social Statistics Directorate

Collect, compile, analyze and disseminate Statistics on Population

+254735004401, +254202911000, +254202911001

30266-00100 NAIROBI

dpss@knbs.or.ke

Definition:

This indicator measures the percentage of ever-partnered women and girls aged 15 to 49 years who have been subjected to physical, sexual, or psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner, in the previous 12 months.

Concepts:

According to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women (1993), violence against women is “Any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual, or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or in private life.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) against women includes any abuse perpetrated by a current or former partner within the context of marriage, cohabitation, or any other formal or informal union. The different forms of violence included in the indicator are defined as follows:

1. Physical violence consists of acts aimed at physically hurting the victim and include the following: a) pushing, shaking or throwing something at someone b) slapping c) twisting the victim’s arm or pulling their hair d) punching the victim with their fist or something that could hurt her e) kicking, dragging or beating the victim f) trying to choke or burn the victim on purpose and g) attack the victim with a knife, gun or other weapon.

2. Sexual violence is defined as any sort of harmful or unwanted sexual behaviour that is imposed on someone, whether by use of physical force, intimidation, or coercion. It includes acts of abusive sexual contact, forced sexual acts, attempted or completed sexual acts (intercourse) without consent (rape or attempted rape), non-contact acts such as being forced to watch or participate in pornography, etc. In intimate partner relationships, sexual violence is commonly operationally defined in surveys as; a) physically forcing the victim to have sexual intercourse with him when she did not want to b) physically forcing the victim to perform any other sexual act that she did not want to c) forcing the victim with threats or in any other way to perform sexual acts she did not want to.

3. Psychological violence consists of any act that induces fear or emotional distress. It includes a range of behaviours that encompass acts of emotional abuse as follows; say or do something to humiliate the victim in front of others, threaten to hurt or harm the victim or someone the victim cares about and insult or make the victim feel bad about themselves. These often coexist with acts of physical and sexual violence by intimate partners. In addition, surveys often measure controlling behaviours (e.g., feeling jealousy or angry if the victim talks to other men, wrongly accusing the victim of being unfaithful, does not permit the victim to meet her female friends, limiting the victim’s contact with her family and insisting of knowing the where the victim is at all times). These are also considered acts of psychological abuse, although usually measured separately.

Per cent

UN Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women (2014)

UNODC International Classification of Crime for Statistical Purposes (ICCS) 2015

Gender Based Violence Module from Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS)

The 2022 KDHS employed a two-stage stratified sample design where in the first stage, 1,692 clusters were selected from the K-HMSF using the Equal Probability Selection Method (EPSEM). The clusters were selected independently in each sampling stratum. Household listing was carried out in all the selected clusters, and the resulting list of households served as a sampling frame for the second stage of selection, where 25 households were selected from each cluster. Interviews were conducted only in the pre-selected households and clusters; no replacement of the preselected units was allowed during the survey data collection stages.

In the survey, the module on GBV was administered in accordance with the World Health Organization’s guidelines on the ethical collection of information on gender-based violence (WHO 2001). The module was implemented in a subsample of households where a total of 16,926 women age 15–49 (unweighted) and 5,583 men age 15–49 (unweighted) eligible for the module were interviewed successfully.

The method of data collection used was interviews, where selected individuals aged 15 -49 were asked on their experience on violence committed on any perpetrator, including current and former spouses or other intimate partners.

Every 5 years

2027

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

Kenya National Bureau of Statistics

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) is established under the Statistics Act, 2006 as the principal agency of the Government for collecting, analyzing and disseminating statistical data in Kenya and as the custodian of official statistical information.

Intimate partner violence is one of the most common forms of violence that women face globally. Given prevailing social norms that sanction male dominance over women, male violence towards their female intimate partners is often perceived as an ordinary/normal element of relationships in the context of marriage or other unions/relationships. Violence against women is an extreme manifestation of gender inequality and discrimination.

Prevalence data are required to measure the magnitude of the problem; understand the various forms of violence and their consequences; identify groups at high risk and explore the barriers to seeking help to ensure that the appropriate responses are being provided. These data are the starting point for informing laws, policies and developing effective responses and prevention programs. They also allow countries to monitor change over time and optimally target resources to maximize the effectiveness of interventions (especially in resource-constrained settings).

Regularity of data collection; Monitoring this indicator with certain periodicity may be a challenge if sustained capacities are not built and financial resources are not available.

Willingness to discuss experiences of violence and understanding of relevant concepts may also differ according to the cultural context and this can affect reported prevalence levels.

While physical and sexual intimate partner violence have widely accepted definitions and measurement methods globally, psychological violence, often referred to as emotional abuse, might need additional understanding and contextualization.

This indicator calls for breakdown by form of violence. Prevalence data was computed for each form of violence as detailed below:

1. Physical intimate partner violence: Number of ever-partnered women (aged 15 to 49 years) subjected to any act of physical violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months divided by the number of ever-partnered women and girls (aged 15 years and above) in the population multiplied by 100.

2. Sexual intimate partner violence: Number of ever-partnered women (aged 15 to 49 years) subjected to any act of sexual violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months divided by the number of ever-partnered women (aged 15 years and above) in the population multiplied by 100.

3. Psychological intimate partner violence: Number of ever-partnered women (aged 15 to 49 years) subjected to psychological violence by a current or former intimate partner in the previous 12 months divided by the number of ever-partnered women (aged 15 years and above) multiplied by 100.

Implementation of the 2022 KDHS was done in collaboration with several stakeholders throughout the entire process. Additionally, among other committees, a technical working committee was developed which included technical officers and subject matter specialists on various thematic areas from key stakeholders.

Data on intimate partner violence (IPV) was gathered through a GBV module that was added to the KDHS.

Although administrative data from health, police, courts, justice, and social services, among other services used by survivors of violence, can provide information on VAW, which do not provide prevalence data, but rather incidence data or service use (i.e., number of cases received in/who seek services). Many women who are subjected to abuse do not report or seek help for the violence and those who do, tend to be the most serious cases. Therefore, administrative data are not recommended as a data source for this indicator.

For more information on recommended practices in the production of VAW statistics, see UN Guidelines for Producing Statistics on Violence against Women- Statistical Surveys (UN, 2014).

The Kenya National Bureau of Statistics is ISO certified based on 9001:2015 Standard requirements. The processes of compilation, production, publication and dissemination of data, including quality control, are carried out following the methodological framework and standards established by the KNBS, in compliance with the Internationally acceptable standards.

The KNBS adheres to Kenya Statistical Quality Assurance Framework (KesQAF) that underlines principles to be assured in managing the statistical production processes and output.

Data consistency and quality checks are conducted through Technical Working Groups (TWGs) before publication and dissemination.

The KNBS adheres to Kenya Statistical Quality Assurance Framework (KesQAF) that underlines principles to be assured in managing the statistical production processes and output.

Data consistency and quality checks are conducted through Technical Working Groups (TWGs) before publication and dissemination.

Data Availability

Data available at National level and County level.

Time Series

2014, 2022

Disaggregation

Disaggregated by age, area of residence, marital status, employment, education and wealth quintile

None

https://undocs.org/en/A/RES/48/104

https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/

Kenya DHS 2022 Main Report - Volume 1 - Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (knbs.or.ke)